


It's Better This Way

by RetroLizard



Series: I want an Akushima Route [3]
Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Akushima Week, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Proposals (sort of)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-26
Updated: 2015-11-26
Packaged: 2018-05-03 11:31:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5289089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RetroLizard/pseuds/RetroLizard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some flashbacks to the past bookend a moment in the lives of Aoba and Akushima, who are apparently like, a serious couple now.</p><p>Written for Akushima Week. This has continuity with Breaking Convention, but read in whichever order you like!</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Better This Way

**Author's Note:**

> And I continue to cry about the minor character that deserved so much more

**_Seragaki Aoba: Age 19_ **

"SERAGAKIIIIIII!" Aoba cringed hearing his own name brayed over a megaphone, accompanied by a long electronic squeak. That _god damn_ megaphone.

"Whaaaat?!" he whined through clenched teeth, covering one ear as he looked up from the concrete stoop he'd been so innocently sitting on. The loudmouth was already making a beeline for him. "I'm not even doing anything!" And for once, he meant that honestly. He really wasn't doing anything!

Akushima's leering visage towered over him, and pointed with an accusatory finger at Aoba's face. "You call THAT 'nothing'?!!" Thankfully this time, he didn't shout it through the megaphone. Aoba gave him a blank look, slowly piecing together that the officer meant his cigarette. He took the dangling stick from his mouth and tapped its ashes onto the ground.

"Ain't no law against smoking," he muttered.

"Take a look where you are, damn idiot!!" Akushima spat. "No smoking within 20 feet of private property!!"

Sticking a finger in his ear (pretending to be picking at some wax, certainly not hinting for Akushima to tone it the fuck down) Aoba looked up and realized he was, indeed, sitting only feet away from a store's front door. "Oh," he said quietly.

"OH?? THAT'S ALL YOU'VE GOT TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!"

"I'm going already," Aoba said with a roll of his eyes. He got up and let his feet take him away from the crime scene, as it were, at his own leisurely pace.

"IT'S AN ARRESTABLE OFFENSE, SERAGAKI!" Akushima shouted at his back. "YOU'RE LUCKY I LET YOU OFF SO EASY." At that, Aoba turned to make direct eye contact with Akushima for the first time today, giving a slight scowl. Quickly, however, his expression softened, tilting his head just a little bit, and gazing at the man like he was looking at an old friend.

"Aww, come on, you're not really gonna arrest me," he cooed, a playful smile at his lips. While Akushima looked stunned, Aoba closed the distance between them and flicked the last of his cigarette on the sidewalk behind him. "You can tell I'm _sorry_ , can't you?"

"You're not sorry," was the grumbled reply, but he looked like his fire had already been doused, not able to keep his gaze from straying as Aoba mercilessly stared him down.

"But I really am," he whined, leaning forward, popping any personal space bubble Akushima might've had. "You think I do bad things on purpose? Hmm? Like, maybe I secretly _wanna_ get arrested by you?" He idly twisted a lock of hair around his finger as he questioned, putting on an air of innocence at stark contrast with his suggestive tone. The officer scowled at him, but clearly couldn't come up with anything to say. Aoba giggled. Oh, how he loved to watch grown men squirm.

"That's just plain silly," Aoba said. "If I wanted a guy to put me in handcuffs, I've got much easier ways to get that." He punctuated his remark with a childish poke of Akushima's forehead, getting his hand smacked away in recourse. Apparently having had all he could take, Akushima huffed and stormed off, but not before Aoba noticed the red tint to his cheeks. He grinned, satisfied with how easy it always was to make Akushima lose his composure.

\---

**_Seragaki Aoba: Age 24_ **

At about 5:30 in the afternoon, Aoba let himself in with his own key. He'd come straight from work, rather than going home first, as usual. He stepped in and reflexively muttered 'tadaima', though he knew no one was here. He kicked off his shoes, nudged the door shut behind him and went into the kitchen, dropping his bag on the table. With a sigh he noticed the dirty dishes filling the sink, but wasn't about to get bent out of shape over it. He grabbed an apron - his apron - off of the coat hook where it lived and tied it on. And, deciding chores were always better with music, he put on his headphones.

This was the typical routine lately; come over before Akushima gets home, do a few chores, make dinner (unless he was too lazy, in which case order something). It wasn't like Akushima _couldn't_ cook, but at some point, Aoba decided that maybe he _shouldn't_. He was also having really long days at work lately, and Aoba knew how much it wore him out. He didn't mind doing things like this. Glancing at the digital clock over the stove, he saw he still had plenty of time before Akushima got home, and it was his policy to never cook in a dirty kitchen, so these dishes had to go first.

As he busied himself, time all but flew by, and soon the kitchen was spotless. With a peek inside the fridge, he found most of the groceries he'd bought yesterday were still here. Which was perfect, because he was craving beef stew, and if the steak had been sacrificed for Akushima's breakfast or something, Aoba might've had to scold him. He then perused a drawer and found his knives arranged just the way he liked them. Akushima must have figured out not to move them, at some point, he mused with a smile. Now to actually start cooking - following his granny's recipe by heart, naturally.

So focused was he that the hands on his waist nearly made him jump out of his skin. He gave a little yelp and spun around, his panic settling after about a fifth of a second when he realized that it was, of course, only Akushima. He sighed, placing a hand over his heart while the other man removed his headphones for him. "D-don't startle me like that..."

"How am I supposed to not startle you if you can't hear me?" Akushima questioned innocently, and damn it, he was kinda right. Aoba mumbled, maybe trying to think up a snappy response, and rather than waiting, Akushima planted a kiss on him.

Aoba sighed and gave a little shake of his head, getting back to the task at hand. "How was work?" he asked, adjusting the burner's heat to a low simmer. Akushima's reply was an annoyed grumble as he embraced Aoba's upper body from behind, resting his chin on a shoulder. Aoba smirked. "Don't ask. Got it."

With a drawn-out 'ohh', Akushima eyed the meal in progress. "Smells good. Wuzzat? Beef stew?"

"Mmhm." Aoba nodded, and watched as a hand reached for the spoon sitting on the counter. He swiftly caught it by the wrist, then turned around to give Akushima an encouraging push towards the doorway that would lead him _out_ of the kitchen and _out_ of Aoba's way, trying his best to do so nicely. "Hey, why don't you go relax and I'll let you know when it's done, huh?" He suggested with a forced grin. For better or worse, he was turning into one of _those_ cooks.

Akushima complied without struggle. He looked exhausted, too tired to make a fuss about it, and put his hand over his mouth as he yawned. Aoba couldn't not take some pity on him, even if a little voice somewhere in the back of his head was rejoicing about how tame the older man was when tired. His feet somehow managed to take him to the living room sofa where he could collapse, and Aoba considered him with a sympathetic smile. "Dinner will be ready in just a few minutes, 'kay?" he announced sweetly.

All things considered, Aoba was in a pretty good mood today, and he found himself pondering why as he measured some rice. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, right? Work was normal. Pretty dull, even. Coming over to Akushima's was normal. His entire day was so normal, in fact, that he realized he'd been kind of running on auto-pilot. He pressed the start button on the rice cooker, and that's when it happened. It hit him. It hit him like a ton of bricks, and he stopped what he was doing, stiff as a block of wood.

Like an out of body experience, he looked at himself standing in Akushima's kitchen. Wearing an apron. Doing dishes. Cooking. Announcing that dinner would be ready soon to a man who was, at this moment, probably seeing if anything amusing was on TV. And this wasn't the first time he'd done any and all of these things. Aoba's voice came out of its own accord. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

He stormed into the other room, pointing accusingly at Akushima, like this was somehow his doing. "WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN ME?? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!"

Akushima blinked, giving him a dumbfounded stare. "W-what?"

"Th-the dishes!! And and the groceries and --" Aoba spat out words at random, gesturing wildly to one place and another like his mind was reeling at a pace his mouth couldn't keep up with. "Toothbrush!! I have a toothbrush in your bathroom!! My _underwear_ is in your laundry!!"

Akushima got to his feet, putting his hands on Aoba's shoulders in an attempt to calm him. "Woah, woah, slow down! What are you talking about? Why are you so angry?"

"I took out your _trash_ yesterday," Aoba said with a harsh poke to Akushima's chest. His brow furrowed in confusion.

"Are you...are you mad I haven't been helping with chores?" he asked meekly. "Because you know, I can--"

"And THIS!" Aoba cut him off, frantically grabbing two fistfuls of his apron and gesturing towards Akushima with them. "Was this your idea or mine?! I don't even remember!!"

"It was your idea," Akushima whined, wishing he could comprehend what Aoba was so worked up over. "Seriously, what's the matter? You know I can do those things myself, right? If you minded, you could've just said so!"

"It's not even about that!!" Aoba said, still visibly flustered. "I just...how did I not notice?? Did YOU notice?!"

Akushima groaned with exasperation. "Notice _what?_ "

"That I've become your housewife!!"

A tense silence followed. Akushima's eyes had gone wide. He'd expected any number of things, but that wasn't one of them. He spoke slowly, as if wanting to confirm he'd heard right. "My...my housewife?"

"It happened so gradually," Aoba said, staring at a random point in space and speaking softly, as if to himself. "I didn't even notice until now..."

Akushima hummed and crossed his arms. He was starting to see what Aoba was getting at. "Yeah...I mean, you come over every day, I thought all that stuff was kinda normal."

"One minute you're taking me out for drinks," Aoba muttered, his eyebrow starting to twitch. "Next thing I know, I'm going halvsies with you on a new flatscreen!"

"Okay, that one was kinda my fault," Akushima conceded, remembering how he broke the old TV when he threw a shoe at it. Well, didn't _break_ it, it still worked, but there was a weird discolored splotch on the right side of the screen, and it was really distracting. "But it didn't happen that fast, did it? You do realize our first date was almost a year and a half ago, right?"

Aoba paused to think about it. They first went out on Valentine's day. He counted the months on his fingers and realized it had indeed been about a year and a half. How did time fly like that? "It was, but..." Aoba trailed off.

"I don't know what you're so worried about," Akushima sighed, and patted Aoba's hair. He didn't even stop to think what bizarre series of events had lead to _him_ being the one trying to calm _Aoba_ down. "You're not my wife. There's so many things wrong with that I don't even know where to start. And so what if you've got stuff here? Isn't that just a normal couple thing?"

The word 'couple' sounded strangely foreign. Apparently that's what they were now? (...Uhh, duh?) "Y-yeah, I guess," Aoba muttered, gently brushing Akushima's hand away from his head with a pout.

"And if you don't feel like cooking or cleaning, just say so," Akushima continued. "You really don't have to."

"No no, like I said, that's not a problem," Aoba said, starting to feel a little guilty. He might have overreacted just a smidge. "I dunno, it just dawned on me all of a sudden...I'm sorry..."

"No need to be sorry," Akushima replied with a reassuring smile. Aoba felt a little more at ease. He laughed at himself, shaking his head and wondering if he had any shot at moving on from his freak-out gracefully. Most likely not.

"Well...in that case I won't overthink it," he said. "I'm just doing normal things, since I practically live here." He glanced up at Akushima, and saw him looking rather deep in thought. "What?"

"Why don't you?"

"Huh?"

"Why don't you just live here?" Aoba's mouth was slightly open, and he stared at Akushima without so much as blinking. Akushima had done something unprecedented. He'd stunned Aoba into silence. And silent he was, for so very long that Akushima had no choice but to speak and fill the void. "It's just, yanno, it's like you said, you have a bunch of your stuff here," he began, having switched from composed to awkward in all of a nanosecond. "And you're...you're kinda here every single day, more or less, so..."

"You really want me to move in?" When Akushima searched his face, he was sure Aoba was sincere. It was an actual question, bereft of even a hint of sarcasm. (Also unprecedented.)

"Yeah." Akushima's brow set and he gave a nod. He meant business. "Yeah, of course. That's why I said it." When Aoba was, again, without comeback, Akushima sighed softly. "I just...like it so much better when you're around than when you're not. Like, every time you leave, I'm already waiting for the next time you'll be back. It's a bummer." He scratched at the back of his neck and tried not to look as vulnerable as he felt. It didn't work. "I really love you. And when I wake up and you're already there next to me, that's my favorite thing in the world. It would be nice...yeah, it'd be really nice if it could just be like that every day. That's how I feel about it." Poor Aoba was at a loss. He seemed to be trying to process the proposal, as it were, and his cheeks had long since turned pink. Akushima gave a playful smile. "It's not just me, is it?"

"O-of course not!!" Aoba said quickly. He stared downward and pouted, giving something between a nudge and a gentle kick to Akushima's shin with his foot. "I love you, you big dummy."

Akushima laughed. "So? Iiiiiiiis that a yes?"

Face still tinted pink, Aoba was silent for a moment, but finally smiled and nodded. "Yeah, Hiro. It's a yes." Akushima broke out an ear-to-ear grin and squeezed Aoba in a hug so aggressive the smaller man yelped. "N-not so tight!"

"Ahhh, finally," Akushima said as he rubbed his face into Aoba's hair, a habit he was more than aware Aoba found annoying. "Now I get to do this even more often!"

"Okay, you can let go now," Aoba protested and tapped Akushima's shoulder rapidly as his boyfriend started showering his neck with kisses.

"Oh no I can't."

Aoba giggled. This was what he signed on for, after all. "Guess I'll have to spend the night tonight, in that case," he sighed. Akushima gave him an all too telling look.

"You'd damn well better."

\---

_**Seragaki Aoba: Age 21** _

"Oh dear," Virus sighed, and turned to Trip and Aoba. "Better watch out, I see the loudmouth."

"You mean you saw him _before_ hearing him?" Trip smirked. "Now that's a first."

Aoba looked where Virus had jerked his head, and indeed the unmistakable face of Midorijima PD was walking down the sidewalk in their direction. It was strangely out of context, almost, to see him not flanked by the pigs and chasing down "criminals", but Aoba supposed he had to patrol like any normal officer once in a blue moon, right? "Don't look at him," Aoba muttered. "We're not doing anything, so just act natural and maybe he won't bother us."

Holding onto that thread of hope, Virus and Trip carried on their conversation like normal while Aoba pretended to be listening intently. Akushima spared hardly even a glance at them as he passed, and Aoba breathed a sigh of relief. That was, until a few seconds later when -

"Hey, Seragaki!" He flinched. _So close_. He looked over at Akushima, bracing himself for the worst.

"What?" Akushima considered him, looking him up and down, and if Aoba wasn't mistaken...he was...blushing? Seriously?!

"Your hair looks really pretty," he mumbled, and Aoba only just _barely_ caught the words. He was actually about 85% sure he heard wrong. Before he even had time to think about it, Akushima had taken off. Incredulous, he gaped at Virus and Trip.

"Did you guys hear that just now?!" The two blonds paused and looked at Aoba.

"Huh?"

"I didn't," Virus said. "What happened?"

"I...I think Akushima just hit on me," he confessed, and the very idea was so ludicrous he thought he'd be laughed at.

"Ohhh." Virus looked at Trip with a brow raised, and the two almost seemed to communicate telepathically. It always creeped Aoba out, the way they did that. "He doesn't seem to remember, does he?"

"I don't think he remembers."

"What don't I remember?" Aoba asked meekly. It was no secret he was missing pretty big patches of memory from the last few years, but he still got self-conscious about it.

Virus just about beamed at him - the closest thing to that Virus could manage, anyway. "You used to flirt with him to get out of trouble."

"All the time," Trip added.

"All the time," Virus agreed.

Aoba felt his face heat up. Well goddamn it, another embarrassing thing to add to the list of shit he'd done that he had no recollection of. "N-no way? You guys aren't fucking with me, are you?"

"Aoba, would we ever lie to you?" Trip asked.

"Ooh, don't answer that," Virus said under his breath.

Even though he felt like the two were laughing at him, Aoba was pretty sure they were being truthful. "Well, shit..."

"I guess he still has a little bit of a crush on you, huh?" Virus suggested, and Aoba immediately recoiled.

"Please! Don't gross me out!" He shoved his hands in his pockets and pouted. He was offended by the very idea! "As if," Aoba muttered. "Like _that_ would ever happen."


End file.
